Once again an Independent Home Health Aide has been arrested for abusing the elderly woman she was hired to care for (Sun Sentinel, Tuesday, 10/30/12).

The aide became a close part of the family. She was entrusted with the elderly couples debit card and pin numbers. She would go grocery shopping and perform other errands with those bank cards in hand.

A number of weeks later, that poor unknowing elderly woman noticed three unauthorized charges to her bank account. The charges were to Wal-Mart, department stores and to the aides FPL bill. She went to look for her bank card and could not find it.

Although this elderly woman was very frightened about her safety, she did the right thing and called the police…the aide was arrested October 27, 2012.

Surveillance video from Wal-Mart was the most incriminating. The aide is charged with 14 felony counts including exploitation of an elderly person and theft from a person 65 years of age or older.

I have many past articles about who is your advocate and why you need one!

Most Likely, several years ago, many of you purchased a Long Term Care (Home Health Care) or Medicare Supplement Policy. However, over the years you have probably lost contact with the agent who sold you the policy. There is a good chance that agent has retired or left the profession. Statistics show that 7 out of 10 agents doing business at this time have left the industry. Thus, leaving behind thousands of clients with policies and without an agent to assist when those policies need to be utilized. It is very important to know that there are rules and procedures that must be followed in order for the insurance company to pay the benefits you need today and have paid for for all of these years.

I want to tell you that I am here to take care of anything that you may need. This means, when you get sick or hurt and need to utilize your policy I, Abe Glickman, am the person you need to contact (877-298-5824). I will take care of everything in a timely matter to make the situation less stressful for you and your family by providing you the following:

• Locating Home Heath Care Services for you; We make sure all our Home Health Care agencies do total background checks of their Aides
• Locating Assisted Living, Nursing Home, and Adult Day Care Helping you with your claims so there are no delays
• Ensuring that your claims are processed accurately
• Being at your service 24 hours in the event of any emergency

We at the Abe Glickman Insurance Group, have, and will always be dedicated to providing the best service and insure that you are completely satisfied. Service and support to you and your loved ones has always been my NUMBER ONE PRIORITY.

Please take this opportunity to call me at the following number (877-298-5824) and allow me to review your coverage so I may refresh your memory of what you purchased many years ago. After that, I will become your advocate, providing you with my personal attention to your needs. We will create an informational profile for you and make sure you, as wall as your family, know to contact me in assisting you at the time of need.

I also invite you to visit me at my office at any time you are in the area and have any questions or just want to say hello. Also, please make sure your family and friends have my information in the event assistance is needed in the future.

It is always gratifying to be recognized on a national level among one’s peers. I am very humbled by this achievement.

However, I must explain how I reached this goal.

It is not about how many appointments you have. It is not about how many kitchen tables you sit at making presentations. It is not about any of that at all.

It is about service (I have written about this in past articles). It is about making sure that the promises I made, and the promises the insurance company made at the time of sale (purchase) are delivered and kept. It is not about just making the sale and disappearing. It is about staying, keeping in touch with my clients, and making sure they know I will be there when they need me! It’s about my clients having peace of mind. It is being your advocate at the time of need. In today’s world, it seems that everyone is out for themselves, not for you. Where I come from, a promise is a promise. My handshake is my bond.

By always valuing my clients, I have made service my number one priority. I have the best clients an insurance agent could ask for. My modest achievements are a direct result of referrals. I have been fortunate, but at the same time, my clients expect professional, expedient and courteous service.

I offer again to all of you who have Long-Term care policies, and have no connection with your agents to contact me so we can review your policy and allow me to be your advocate.

Now that Long Term Care Insurance has been around for a while, sufficient data has been accumulated so that we have a good grasp on claims. The industry is paying a very large amount of dollars in claims – some $6.6 billion in benefits was paid to about 200,000 individuals in 2011 – all of you should be aware of this information.

Here is an analysis of the more than 160,000 claims that a leading carrier paid by the end of 2011.

In Dollars
• $1.2 million is the largest single claim
• 50% of all claim dollars are paid to claimants with mental disorders including dementia

Benefit Recipients
• 78.7 is the average age of claimants. At age 80, it’s approximately 26% of claims, age 85 it’s about 24% of claims and age 90 it’s 9%
• Youngest claimant is 28; oldest is 103
• 71% of claims have been paid to female claimants
• Married women tend to claim at an earlier age than single women and men

Length of Claims
• 43% of claims last less than one years due to short recoverable illness, a sudden terminal illness or a single use of non-caregiving benefits
• The average length of claims that last more than a year is 4-9 years
• 35% of claims will last more than five years
• Of 100 people, 80 do not transition from where they receive their initial care.

Who Goes On Claim And For What – By Gender And Cause
• Single Women – 38% of all claims
• Married Women – 27% of all claims
• Single Men – 11% of all claims
• Married Men – 24% of all claims
• Women – Dementia, Cancer, Fractures, Stroke
• Men – Dementia, Cancer, Stroke, Parkinson’s

Of all the claims, 59% died while on claims, 30% recovered and 11% exhausted their benefits.

“People say the premiums are expensive.” As a Long Term Care insurance Agent, I hear this all the time.
Are they??

I have to expand the question for those who make that statement.

Long Term Care insurance premiums are expensive compared to…what? Compared to the cost of Long Term Care? NO. Long Term Care insurance premiums are a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of the type of care this valuable insurance pays for.

Here’s an example:

A 50-year-old can get a $200 daily benefit to cover today’s cost of care with either a 3-year benefit period or a 5-year benefit period for only $159.14 a month or $224.26 a month respectively. If a spouse is also issued, the premium is reduced 10% for both and paying annually instead of monthly will reduce it an additional 8%. So now were at $1,591 for the 3-years benefit period and $2,242 for the 5-year benefit period.

Sound like a lot? Here’s the value proposition: The premium for the 3-year plan will cost $47,730 over 30 years and the premium for the 5-year plan will cost $67,260. At 5% compound, the daily benefit will be $823.23 in 30 years, which means the benefit pool for the 3-year plan will be $901,433 and the benefit for the 5-year plan will be $1,577,508.

Let me restate this information to be crystal clear:

Buying Long Term Care insurance at the above premium means you would spend 4% to 5% of the potential benefits in 30 years ($47,730 is 5% of $901,433 and $67,260 is 4$ of $1.5 million).

But…were not done yet:

The benefits will continue to grow each year at 5% compound for the rest of your life as long as you haven’t used them all up! At 5% compound, the benefits DOUBLE every 14 years.

I’ve told you what the benefits will be at age 80 for the 50-year-old. Could today’s 50-year-old live to be age 95? According to the Wall Street Journal, one in 10 people who turned age 65 in 2011 will see age 95, so it’s logical to think those odds will be even higher for someone 15 years younger.

At age 95, the 3-year plan will have grown to almost $2 million and the 5-year plan will be sitting at $3 million.
$1,591 x 45 Years = $71,595 Premium vs. $1.8 million in potential Benefits
$2,242 x 45 Years = $100,890 in Premium vs. $3.1 million in potential Benefits

Oh, and let’s see, should I mention that the premium STOPS once you start using the benefits?

But wait – I’m not saying that the premiums can’t increase on a class basis…because yes, they certainly can.

What if you never use it? You’ve made a 4% to 5% mistake…but was it a mistake? Your 4% to 5% mistake bought a peace of mind for you and your family for 30 to 45 years. To me, that’s priceless.

“People say the premiums are expensive.” As a Long Term Care insurance Agent, I hear this all the time.

Are they??

I have to expand the question for those who make that statement.

Long Term Care insurance premiums are expensive compared to…what? Compared to the cost of Long Term Care? NO. Long Term Care insurance premiums are a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of the type of care this valuable insurance pays for.

Here’s an example:

A 50-year-old can get a $200 daily benefit to cover today’s cost of care with either a 3-year benefit period or a 5-year benefit period for only $159.14 a month or $224.26 a month respectively. If a spouse is also issued, the premium is reduced 10% for both and paying annually instead of monthly will reduce it an additional 8%. So now were at $1,591 for the 3-years benefit period and $2,242 for the 5-year benefit period.

Sound like a lot? Here’s the value proposition: The premium for the 3-year plan will cost $47,730 over 30 years and the premium for the 5-year plan will cost $67,260. At 5% compound, the daily benefit will be $823.23 in 30 years, which means the benefit pool for the 3-year plan will be $901,433 and the benefit for the 5-year plan will be $1,577,508.

Let me restate this information to be crystal clear:
Buying Long Term Care insurance at the above premium means you would spend 4% to 5% of the potential benefits in 30 years ($47,730 is 5% of $901,433 and $67,260 is 4$ of $1.5 million).

But…were not done yet:

The benefits will continue to grow each year at 5% compound for the rest of your life as long as you haven’t used them all up! At 5% compound, the benefits DOUBLE every 14 years.

I’ve told you what the benefits will be at age 80 for the 50-year-old. Could today’s 50-year-old live to be age 95? According to the Wall Street Journal, one in 10 people who turned age 65 in 2011 will see age 95, so it’s logical to think those odds will be even higher for someone 15 years younger.

At age 95, the 3-year plan will have grown to almost $2 million and the 5-year plan will be sitting at $3 million.

A recent court case out of the state of Pennsylvania has really gotten my attention which I wanted to bring to all of yours.

A Pennsylvania state appeals court has rules that the adult son of a nursing home resident is responsible for her unpaid $93,000 bill. Pennsylvania is one of 30 states to have filial responsibility statues. Florida is not listed as one of these 30 but some (including elder care lawyers) fear this is just the beginning of a trend.

About two-thirds of those 30 states, including Pennsylvania, allow long-term care providers to sue family members to recover unpaid costs. The reaming one-third have no recovery provision but failing to care for a parent is considered a criminal offense.

This case for the $93,000 bill involved a woman who spent six months in a nursing home facility recovering from an auto accident. She had monthly Social Security and pension income of only $1,000. This amount is far less than her cost of care, and while she applied for Medicaid, that process can take many months, and in this case, she left the facility while her Medicaid application was still pending.

As a result, the nursing home facility sued her son for her unpaid bill. He argued that she had some income so she was not indigent, but even if she was, other family members also had an obligation to help and all the burden should not have been placed on him.

However, the appeals court disagreed. They said in Pennsylvania someone does not have to be destitute to be indigent. Family members are responsible even if she has income, but has insufficient means to pay for her own care. The court also ruled that the facility could arbitrarily go after any family member is wanted, as longs as it could prove that relative had the resources to pay.

Although these filial responsibility laws have been around for many decades, they have rarely been enforced… but that may be changing. With the cost of long-term care continues rising (an average nursing home facility stay now exceeds $200 a day), senior service providers are finding themselves with more unpaid bills than in the past.

If you would like more information on this case, please visit the Elder Law Answers website which is which brought this to my attention.

Today I would like to share a story that was told to me a short time ago by two close friends, Ethel and Gloria that was quite upsetting.

This is what Gloria shared with me:

“Recently my neighbor and good friend Ethel got sick. I was worried about when she came home from the hospital how she would take care of herself. When I visited her before her coming home we discussed this issue she said, “Don’t worry, I bought a Long-Term Care Policy years ago.” What a relief we both thought.

When Ethel came home she hired a Home Health Care agency to assist her…and as Paul Harvey used to say – Here is the rest of the story…

When she got home from the hospital, she got out her Long-Term Care policy to give the agency her information. As she was reading her schedule page of benefits she noticed an elimination period, benefit amount, as well as a section called eligibility of benefits. Needless to say she did not have a clue as to what all of that meant.

What she found out was she had an elimination period (deductable). A number of days that she would have to pay before the insurance policy would begin paying. Also there has to be documentation from her Doctor and the Home Health Care agency as to the Activities of Daily Living assistance needed. She could not determine whether her aide could go grocery shopping and then drive her to her doctors appointment. How many hours is she entitled to.

As the paperwork started to come in the mail from the insurance company she was overwhelmed. Does she have to pay the agency and then file to the insurance company to get reimbursed. So many questions …No one to help.

I said to myself, I have a Long-Term care policy I bought years ago. It has been in my file cabinet since I purchased it, I have not looked at it in years. I have no idea where the agent is who sold me the policy. I have not heard from him since I go the policy. What will I do when I need to use my policy?”

This situation is unfortunately too common. So many people did the right thing years ago and bought Long-Term Care policies to protect themselves. However those professionals (they claimed to be) the agents that sold these policies are no where to be found. So just like these two friends, they are at the mercy of the insurance company. I said this before, you must have an advocate to assist at your time of need.

The good news, both of these lovely ladies, Ethel and Gloria have me as their advocate and will never have to worry about any future issues regarding their policies.

How about all of you?

You bought a Long-Term Care policy, (which was the right thing to do), have you looked at it? When is the last time you took it out and had a review? Is your agent still around to assist you? Do you understand your benefits? Are there any Restrictions?

I’ve always done things my way. Forged my own path. Never been one to follow along with the crowd. And that’s exactly how I’m going to keep living my life. So I’ve made plans for the future. I know I’ll probably need help someday, but it’s going to be on my terms. That’s why I purchased a Long-Term Care Insurance policy.

I’m not going anywhere. This is my home, and it’s where I belong. There are a lot of happy memories in this house. It’s where my kids grew up. And it’s where they’ll keep coming for family dinners and holiday get-togethers. I’m comfortable here. I’ve got my garden, my book, my friends. My home is the center of my life, and my Long-Term Care Insurance policy will help me get the care I need

My kids shouldn’t have to take care of me. The last thing I want is to become a burden to my kids. They have families and lives of their own now. They shouldn’t have to worry about me. Besides, I want our time together to be enjoyable. I know they care about me. I just don’t want them to have to care for me.

I’m not willing to risk my retirement savings. I’ve worked hard to build a comfortable life. And I know that if I had to pay for Long-Term care services using my savings, it could cost me everything. I’m not willing to let that happen. So I’m doing the smart thing. Helping to protect my retirement savings with a Long-Term Care Insurance policy.

It’s important for me to leave an inheritance for my kids. I want my kids and grandkids to remember me. That’s why I’m making sure I’ll have something left to pass on to them when I’m gone. My Long-Term Care Insurance policy is helping me protect my assets. It may be in my name, but I bought it for my kids future.

I know this is right for me. I live my life by doing what’s right for me. So I bought a Long-Term care Insurance policy from a company I know and trust…

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Breaking Down the Long Term Care Claim In Numbers Now that Long Term Care Insurance has been around for a while, sufficient data has been accumulated so that we have a good grasp on claims. The industry is paying a very large amount of dollars in claims – some $6.6 billion in benefits was paid […]

Long Term Care services can be expensive, and costs vary widely based on where you will be receiving care. National rates are as follows*: •The average daily rate for a private room in a nursing home is $203, or $74,095 a year •The average daily rate for a semi-private room in a nursing home is […]